Puzzle 072 is A Cup of Tiles, a 40-picarat tile puzzle from Michelle, the receptionist at City Hall, in Chapter 5. It's optional. You get fifteen square tiles, each 3 by 3 squares: eight red and seven white. Lay them one on top of another inside a 9 by 9 frame so the finished picture matches the coffee cup mosaic on the top screen. A tile you lay later covers whatever is under it, so the whole puzzle is about where each tile goes and in what order.
This page covers story Puzzle 072 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS (US and UK English), using the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 072, one of Michelle's other tile puzzles or Puzzle 72 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 072? below.
What Puzzle 072 is
| Name | A Cup of Tiles (the same in the US and UK English versions) |
|---|---|
| Type | Tile laying (drag tiles into the frame, then tap Submit) |
| Picarats | 40 |
| Location | Reception, City Hall, Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 5 |
| Given by | Michelle, the City Hall receptionist |
| Required for the story? | No |
| Reward | Apparel, the seventh aisle of the Shop minigame |
| Previous puzzle number | Puzzle 071, Evenly Matched 2 (Reception) |
| Next puzzle number | Puzzle 073, Ancient Arithmetic (Briefing Room) |
Reading the question
The puzzle says: "This two-color mosaic of a coffee cup was made using red and white tiles. You want to make an identical picture, but you only have a set of large tiles that are each 3 x 3 squares. Can you re-create the picture by layering the tiles you have available? The tiles can overlap as many times as you want." The objective bar says, "Make a coffee cup!"
The top screen shows a wall of 9 by 9 square tiles in a stone frame, with a long-haired character in a flat cap holding a steaming cup beside it. The mosaic has two full red rows along the top and one along the bottom. In between is a white cup six squares wide, with its handle drawn in red and white on the right-hand side. On the touch screen, the empty frame is on the left and the tiles are on the right, with a count next to each pile: eight red and seven white.
On the screen the white tiles look cream. They're the same tiles the text calls white.
How stacking works
Drag a tile from a pile into the frame. Each tile covers a 3 by 3 block of the frame's squares, and the pile's count goes down by one. When one tile overlaps another, the one you laid later sits on top and hides the squares underneath. Only the top layer counts toward the picture.
Fifteen tiles of 9 squares cover far more than the frame's 81 squares, so most tiles end up partly hidden, and you have to work out which tile goes under which. If the frame gets into a mess, tap Restart and lay the tiles again.
Puzzle names
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | A Cup of Tiles |
| UK English | A Cup of Tiles |
| Japanese | タイルでカップ (Tairu de Kappu, "a cup from tiles") |
The name is the same in the US and UK English versions. The UK text uses British spelling ("two-colour") and a few small wording changes, such as "recreate" for "re-create" and "Finish the cup off" in the Super Hint. The tiles, the cup and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.
Wrong Puzzle 072?
- Daily Puzzle 072 is Mural 07, from the Vault of the Ancients set.
- Puzzle 071, Evenly Matched 2, is also in Reception in this chapter, from Mayor Billson. If your puzzle is about cutting up a chessboard, you've got that one.
- Michelle's other tile puzzles look a lot like this one. Puzzle 039, A Hat of Tiles, comes in Chapter 3 and Puzzle 112, A Duck of Tiles, in Chapter 7, both at Reception. Puzzle 136, A Pattern of Tiles, is one of Layton's Challenges. Check the number and the picture before you follow an answer.
- Puzzle 72 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show a coffee cup made of squares, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Puzzle 072 comes in Chapter 5, on the third day of the investigation. Go up City Hall Steps and into Reception, where Michelle is the receptionist at the desk. She says, "I heard they made an arrest. Then I realized it was our police force...so it's probably the wrong guy." Emmy asks, "Oh, come on. Are they really that bad?" Michelle answers, "This wouldn't be the first wrongful arrest in Monte d'Or. It also wouldn't be the fiftieth. Just sayin'." Then she says, "Last time they got their man, the tile pattern in this puzzle was in style," and the puzzle starts.
Michelle has this puzzle while your objective reads "Continue the Investigation!", "Head to City Hall!", "Go to the Racetrack!", "Speak to the Manager!" and "Ask about the Cart!", and her puzzle is gone once you're told to "Go to Meet Henry!". The story doesn't need it. If you miss it, it goes to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 7.
If you quit, she says, "What time is it? Can I go home yet?" Talk to her again and she says, "I like this color palette," and the puzzle starts again.
Hint coins in Reception
Reception has four hint coins: on the light (1), on the box on top of the shelves (2), on the yellow notice (3) and under the teal sofa at the far left (4). Each coin can be collected only once, and they're the same four coins as on your Chapter 3 visit for Puzzle 039 and Puzzle 040, so if you tapped them then, there's nothing left to pick up here.
When the answer comes back wrong
- "Too bad. You need to find a way to make the handle using your limited supply of tiles. Once you clinch that part, the rest is easy." That's the game's message for a wrong answer. It doesn't tell you which square is wrong, so compare your frame with the top screen square by square.
- The handle comes out wrong. The handle has red and white squares mixed together in a space only three squares wide, but every tile is three by three. Think about which handle tiles go under the others and which go on top.
- You run out of tiles. Eight red and seven white tiles isn't many for 81 squares. Try not to lay a tile that later gets covered completely.
Hints, one at a time
These are the game's own hints, word for word from the North American version and in the same order. Open only the next one you need. In the game, Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two.
Hint 1: Where to start
First stick a red tile in the bottom-right corner, and then start making the cup.
Hint 2: The next two tiles
Continuing from Hint 1, place a white tile on the right edge, just above the red one but not overlapping with it. Now place another white tile one square down and to the left of the previous one. These two tiles will form the bottom part of the cup handle.
Hint 3: More of the handle
Place a red tile two squares from the top and one from the right, then place another red tile one square left and down from that. The shape of the handle should be starting to emerge now.
Super Hint: Finishing the cup
Next, you'll want to place a white tile one square from the top and one from the right. Now cover the top third of the whole area with three red tiles. Place the last two red tiles in the bottom-left corner and immediately to the right of that. Finish off the cup by making a large square with the remaining four white tiles!
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every tile, with pictures of the finished puzzle. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
Build the handle first, from the bottom-right corner, then lay three red tiles across the top, two red tiles along the bottom left, and finish with four white tiles in a big square for the body of the cup. All fifteen tiles are used. Then tap Submit.
| Order | Tile | Squares it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red (bottom-right corner) | Rows 7 to 9, columns 7 to 9 |
| 2 | White (right edge, just above the red tile) | Rows 4 to 6, columns 7 to 9 |
| 3 | White (one square down and left of tile 2) | Rows 5 to 7, columns 6 to 8 |
| 4 | Red (two squares from the top, one from the right) | Rows 3 to 5, columns 6 to 8 |
| 5 | Red (one square left and down from tile 4) | Rows 4 to 6, columns 5 to 7 |
| 6 | White (one square from the top, one from the right) | Rows 2 to 4, columns 6 to 8 |
| 7 to 9 | Red ×3 (the top third) | Rows 1 to 3: columns 1 to 3, columns 4 to 6 and columns 7 to 9 |
| 10 and 11 | Red ×2 (bottom-left corner and next to it) | Rows 7 to 9: columns 1 to 3 and columns 4 to 6 |
| 12 to 15 | White ×4 (one big square) | Rows 3 to 5 and rows 6 to 8, each in columns 1 to 3 and columns 4 to 6 |
Step by step:
- A red tile in the bottom-right corner. It covers rows 7 to 9 and columns 7 to 9.
- Two white tiles for the bottom of the handle. Put the first one on the right edge directly above the red tile, on rows 4 to 6. Put the second one square down and one square to the left of it, on rows 5 to 7 and columns 6 to 8. It covers part of the first white tile and part of the red one.
- Two red tiles for the inside of the handle. Put the first one two squares from the top and one from the right, on rows 3 to 5 and columns 6 to 8. Put the second one square left and one square down from that, on rows 4 to 6 and columns 5 to 7.
- One white tile for the top of the handle. Put it one square from the top and one from the right, on rows 2 to 4 and columns 6 to 8. Its bottom row becomes the all-white row across the handle.
- Three red tiles across the top. Lay them side by side over rows 1 to 3. They make the two red rows at the top, and the right-hand tile also covers the top two rows of the white tile from step 4, so row 3 is red on the right.
- Two red tiles along the bottom. Put one in the bottom-left corner and one immediately to its right, on rows 7 to 9 and columns 1 to 6. With the corner tile from step 1, the bottom row is now red all the way across.
- Four white tiles for the body of the cup. Lay them as one big square over rows 3 to 8 and columns 1 to 6. They cover the red row 3 on the left and rows 7 and 8 of the bottom red tiles, leaving only the bottom row red. Tap Submit.
The game says, "Correct! Give yourself a pat on the back and a nice cup of coffee."
You have a little freedom. The three red tiles in step 5 can go down in any order, and so can the two in step 6 and the four white tiles in step 7, because the tiles inside each step don't overlap one another. The order of the steps is the part that can't change.
If your answer keeps failing:
- Check the handle first. It should read, from row 3 down in columns 7 to 9: red, red, red; white, white, white; red, red, white; red, white, white; white, white, red; red, red, red. If it doesn't, one of the six handle tiles is in the wrong place or was laid in the wrong order.
- Check the top and bottom. If row 3 on the left is red instead of white, the four white tiles went down before the top red tiles. If rows 7 and 8 on the left are red, the bottom red tiles went down after the white ones.
- Count the piles. All fifteen tiles are used, so both piles should be empty when you submit.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
A Cup of Tiles shows 40 picarats when it starts. Its three picarat values are all 40.
Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two, five in total. Reception's four coins are one short of that, and only if you didn't already collect them in Chapter 3. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
What it unlocks
Solving A Cup of Tiles adds the seventh aisle to the Shop minigame in the Professor's trunk: Apparel. The game announces, "You got a new shop aisle: "Apparel"!" Its description says, "All our premium hats, ties, and shoes are tailored specifically to suit the needs of the refined lady or gentleman."
Versions
- Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You drag the tiles with the stylus on the touch screen.
- US and UK English versions: same name, same tiles, same answer. The UK text uses British spellings and words a few lines slightly differently.
The scene around the puzzle
Before the puzzle, Michelle doubts the police have the right man: "This wouldn't be the first wrongful arrest in Monte d'Or. It also wouldn't be the fiftieth. Just sayin'."
When it's solved, she says, "The police seem a little quick to make an arrest and call it a day." Then: "They say Dalston was at the scene of the crime. Hello?! Who wasn't there?! The real crook probably vanished into the crowd!" Layton answers, "True. It would be very easy to slip in and out of a crowd like that one." Michelle has the last word: "If being there counts as evidence, you gotta arrest half the town! Just sayin'."
Talk to her again afterwards and she says, "I need more help doing my work here at city hall. I'll never get my house remodeled at this rate!"
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 072?
It's in the Answer and full solution section above, hidden until you open it. If you only want a push, open the hints one at a time first.
Where is Puzzle 072?
In Reception at City Hall, in Chapter 5. Talk to Michelle at the desk before your objective becomes "Go to Meet Henry!".
Do I have to solve Puzzle 072?
No. The story doesn't need it. If you skip it, it goes to Nanna Grams at the start of Chapter 7. Solving it does open the Apparel aisle in the Shop minigame.
How many picarats is Puzzle 072 worth?
It shows 40 picarats when it starts. Its three picarat values are all 40.
Is Daily Puzzle 072 the same as Puzzle 072?
No. It's a different puzzle, listed under Wrong Puzzle 072?. Story Puzzle 072 is Michelle's coffee cup tile puzzle.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 071: Evenly Matched 2
- Puzzle 073: Ancient Arithmetic
- Puzzle 039: A Hat of Tiles
- Puzzle 070: A Perilous Adventure
- Puzzle 069: Toppings Up! 2
- Puzzle 074: Bunny-Hop Swap 3
- Puzzle 040: Crossed Connections
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.